just like starving totally red lobster the first red lobster opened in florida in 1968 and has
made a name for itself serving lobster shrimp and cheddar bay biscuits so between bites of lobster
take a look at these 10 secrets you need to know about red lobster in the beginning hey how about
we open a fancy restaurant like many successful restaurant chains red lobster has humble origins
the first red lobster opened in lakeland florida on january 18 1968. bill darden and charles
woodsby the two entrepreneurs who started the seafood restaurant envisioned it as a harbor for
seafood lovers the first location proved to be a success so the men quickly followed up with four
more red lobster locations in the southeast the success of these five restaurants quickly drew the
attention of general mills and the corporate giant decided to buy the red lobster locations in 1970
general mills invested a lot of money in its new acquisition in the 1980s greatly increasing
the number of locations in 2009 red lobster started experimenting with a new restaurant idea
called bar harbor these locations were designed with new england coastal architecture in mind
this new concept did not prove to be profitable in 2014 red lobster was under pressure from
stockholders to reorganize the company these efforts failed and the seafood restaurant along
with its sister chain the olive garden were sold to golden gate capital for 2.1 billion dollars
so i sell at the restaurant shortly after the sale red lobster moved its headquarters
to orlando florida while the chain has endured many changes it continues to offer good seafood
at prices customers can't afford frozen seafood awaiting the future in frozen food products
most people expect or at least prefer the seafood they order at restaurants to be fresh however much
of the seafood sold at red lobster arrives at the locations frozen there isn't necessarily anything
wrong with frozen seafood so it's more a matter of perception fresh seafood is much more expensive to
serve than frozen seafood so red lobster is able to keep costs down by delivering frozen foods to
its restaurants because the restaurant chain uses frozen food it can buy many of the items in bulk
and buy them from suppliers outside of the united states from countries like mexico these
cost-cutting measures would be impossible if red lobster was committed to using fresh seafood at
its many locations it's better cheaper too buying the seafood in bulk shipping it frozen and then
keeping it in freezers at the locations is an efficient system it also succeeds in delivering
good quality at reasonable prices to diners some of these diners might think the system is less
than ideal but providing fresh seafood at so many locations would be a very expensive proposition
for red lobster frozen seafood might turn off some people but the restaurant chain probably
couldn't survive without it frozen seafood can be very good but it's understandable customers
would prefer fresh seafood whenever possible the biscuits son of a biscuit red lobster is obviously
known as a restaurant chain that sells a variety of seafood including lobster crab and clam chowder
however some people will make a case that red lobsters cheddar bay biscuits are as popular as
any of the fish dishes it offers these biscuits have such a good reputation you have to wonder
if people sometimes go to red lobster just for a taste of the baked cheesy goodness like many
good biscuit recipes cheddar bay biscuits use the popular bisquick mix as the core ingredient
of the recipe that also includes butter milk and of course cheddar cheese a lot of the people who
work at red lobster are proud of the seafood they sell and some of them are actually pretty
tired of customers telling them how much they love the cheddar bay biscuits we love it despite
the employees feelings on the subject the biscuits popularity has only increased with the addition of
a facebook page celebrating their virtues the page has collected more than a million likes from loyal
customers who want to let everyone know how much they love these biscuits flawed that's the mascot
like many businesses red lobster has created a mascot to help with its marketing efforts
mcdonald's has ronald mcdonald and geico insurance has that little green gecko to help sell its
products it's probably no surprise that this seafood chain known for its lobster has a lobster
mascot named fraud the pun on the name claude is clever and easy to remember so it was probably
a good choice claude has appeared in different forms over the years as part of the company's logo
and has helped red lobster become a popular well-known brand she's famous now the famous
lobster can be seen on signs and in advertisements but it doesn't just end there if you want to go
all out as a lobster lover you can also get a lobster mascot costume however be warned that
these costumes can cost more than 400 online this seems like a lot of money for a costume so
you'd probably be better off spending the money on actual lobsters the next time you visit your local
red lobster location with a name like red lobster the restaurant chain really didn't have much of a
choice when it came to picking a mascot but claude fits the bill the blue one we are a rare breed the
red lobster restaurant chain is famous for selling red lobsters to its customers these lobsters are
made into a variety of delicious meals however one special lobster became something of a celebrity
for not becoming just another dish at the seafood restaurant in the summer of 2020 a beautiful blue
lobster was delivered to an ohio red lobster location only about one in every two million
lobsters have the genetic mutation that makes their shell blue instead of red the restaurant
staff was surprised to see the rare animal in a shipment of lobsters and decided to take action
to save it from a lobster's usual fate we have to help her after the employees made sure the exotic
lobster was real and not some sort of prank they decided to give it a reprieve they were determined
that this lobster would not meet the same fate as the others while the situation was being sorted
out this special lobster was kept in the tank with the other lobsters the staff were united in their
decision to not allow a customer to choose it for their dinner instead of being made into a
delicious bisque this female lobster was given the name claude the name of red lobster's mascot
and sent to a zoo in akron ohio a manager at the zoo confirmed that claude settled in at her new
home without much trouble and became a popular attraction the real thing is this thing real oh
yes when you go to a restaurant called red lobster you probably expect to get real lobster however
this might not always be the case and it's one of the secrets you need to know an investigation
into a number of seafood restaurants in 2016 revealed some unwelcome news for red lobster and
its lobster lovers the lobsters you see in the tank might not be the kind of lobsters used in
many of the dishes you order more than a third of the lobster dishes tested during the investigation
contained a species of lobster called langostino this species of lobster is cheaper and is
more closely related to hermit crabs than the lobsters you might have assumed you were getting
you tricked me you tricked me when the popular seafood chain was confronted with the results of
the investigation it provided a reasonable if not completely satisfying explanation using langostino
lobsters allows red lobster to serve some form of lobster when the regular lobsters they usually
serve are out of season sometimes customers will get a mix of both kinds of lobster depending
on what dishes they order the company has argued that all the lobster meat it uses is good quality
and tastes great and this very well might be true the folks at red lobster certainly defend this
policy but it's probably a policy they would rather keep under wraps as much as possible
the ultimate feast lobster loves the lobster you are delicious this meal includes a sample of red
lobster's popular dishes such as walt's favorite shrimp maine lobster tail garlic shrimp scampi
and north american snow crab legs for seafood lovers this is a mouth-watering assortment you
also get a choice of two sides such as broccoli rice baked potato or french fries also don't
forget that the delicious cheddar bay biscuits everyone loves are served with every entree we got
everything here red lobster likes to recommend this meal because the restaurant chain believes
it highlights all the best things that it has to offer the ultimate feast gives people a chance to
try a variety of seafood to see what they like and don't like if you're a fan of all of the dishes
that's great but if you're not sure about which to pick the ultimate feast is a tasty way to find
out the calorie conscious might be interested to know that a serving of the ultimate feast
contains about 1100 calories but don't let that ruin your diet just enjoy from the source we're
gonna take it to the source red lobster wants to provide good food to its customers at prices
they can afford and this isn't always easy to do in order to keep costs down the seafood chain is
careful where it gets its food supply the seafood chain would rather keep quiet about the sources it
uses for its lobster and crab when asked about it the company usually gives a vague response
explaining that it uses sources located all around the world when red lobster decided to name
specific locations the list included the waters off new england the caribbean scotland and brazil
of course this means most of the seafood has to be shipped frozen to the restaurants it would simply
be much too expensive for all of the red lobster locations to use fresh seafood the customers have
to understand that many red lobster locations are far away from fishing towns where it would
be relatively quick and inexpensive to provide fresh seafood it is not fresh are you serious
not everyone has been happy with the company's sourcing methods and in 2021 it found itself
facing a lawsuit red lobster was accused of using inhumane and unsustainable methods at its shrimp
farms in southeast asia the restaurant chain insisted it has vetted its suppliers and stands
by them regardless of the truth about where the seafood comes from these aren't the things people
usually focus on when they visit their local red lobster get the shrimp i'm gonna get the shrimp
something shrimp it's no surprise that lobster is a popular choice at red lobster but the shrimp
might be a better bet for many seafood lovers the restaurant chain overhauled its menu in 2015 and
the shrimp dishes received some special attention the shrimp entrees were reintroduced with new
recipes larger shrimp as well as larger portions the shrimp dishes were increased in size by at
least 47 and this translates into a lot of extra shrimp red lobster sells 80 million servings of
the popular shellfish every year and this means a big chunk of revenue for the restaurant chain
money red lobster's shrimp scampi is only one of several coveted shrimp dishes you can order at red
lobster and let's not forget red lobster's endless shrimp promotion offered to customers periodically
to help increase business and please a lot of people who love shrimp these all you can eat
shrimp promotions include a selection of shrimp dishes as well as a salad side and the cheddar bay
biscuits this sounds like an extra good deal for shrimp lovers with big appetites service with a
smile let's put a smile on that face many people like to take pride in the work they do and the
people who work at red lobster are no different the seafood chain has a reputation for being a
good place to work if you're interested in trying your hand at a job in the restaurant industry both
current and former employees of the red lobster chain have posted online about their experiences
the people who run red lobster would be happy to know that many employees believe that the company
cares about the well-being of the staff and tries to create a positive environment for them
think positive frank oh you be positive i'll be realistic difficult customers and a fast pace
can make the job stressful so it's good to know that the employees feel like red lobster tries
to support them in addition to the overall work environment many employees appreciate that they
get a free meal during their shift and generally have flexible schedules a lot of the waiters feel
like the tips could be better but this is a fairly common complaint across the restaurant industry
as a whole like any job not every employee is thrilled to work at red lobster but the
company seems to make a genuine effort to treat its employees well order up more great videos
just tap or click and hit that subscribe button and ring that bell to join our notification squad